Billy Morgan claimed his first career snowboard slopestyle World Cup medal on just his third ever start at the season finale in Sierra Nevada – and he couldn’t be more delighted about it.
The 23-year-old has shown glimpses of his potential over the course of the season having won the big air competition at the London Freeze Festival at Battersea Power Station in October.
Morgan was fifth at the opening slopestyle World Cup event the season in Copper Mountain at the start of January and fourth at the World Championships in Stoneham less than two weeks later.
A 34th in Spindleruv Mlyn was an otherwise blip on a fine season to date which was completed by him taking his first medal on just his third World Cup start in the snowboard slopestyle discipline.
Morgan scored 78.50 on his first run, his second outing produced 27.75, as 16-year-old Yuuki Kadono took victory with an effort of 94.00 which also saw him claim the overall World Cup title.
Brit Morgan made his World Cup debut in any event in November last year, finish seventh in the big air competition in Antwerp and finished sixth in this season’s overall slopestyle standings.
The 23-year-old took 1072 points for the season while fellow Brits Nate Kern, Sam Turnbull and Jamie Nicholls didn’t make it past the qualification round at the season finale in Sierra Nevada.
Morgan’s success follows a spate of good results for Britain’s freestyle skiers with James Woods the overall World Cup champion in that discipline’s slopestyle event.
Katie Summerhayes took her maiden World Cup medal in ladies’ freestyle ski slopestyle with silver in Silvaplana in February and Morgan was over the moon at getting in on the act himself.
He said: “I’m super stoked. Everybody was riding so well. I really worked hard for this. When the weather came in I thought that they would cancel it. I sat on the bubble and luckily survived.”
However poor weather did prevent there from being any more British success in Sierra Nevada thanks to delay’s from the men’s contest, warm temperatures, soft snow and upcoming wind.
All combined to force the cancellation of the women’s event which would have seen Brits Jenny Jones, Aimee Fuller and Katie Ormerod in action.
© Sportsbeat 2013